Ola from Geres-II

We spent today traveling both north to the border with Spain and south through some of the mountains looking for trails into likely Iris habitat. We hiked for some distance along about five potential trails. That evening we decided that one trail near the border was the most promising trail to hike. There are reported to be wild horses, boars, goats, deer and wolves in these mountains. The area is set aside as a National Park based upon the presence of such elements. The horses are apparent but we did not see any other animals. We have heard and seen fewer birds than in Spain but our hotel hosts told us that there were more birds in the open slopes high in the mountains. There are many natural springs (fontes) in the mountains and they are well-marked and apparently used by the locals. This is also an area with an impressive number of Roman artifacts. – May 27, 2007